Middendorp's rescue mission: Relegation-threatened Spurs succumb to Stellies' might

Thirteen matches, twelve defeats.

That’s an agonising statistic that's the reality for Cape Town Spurs as they went 3-0 down to Stellenbosch at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday.

The Urban Warriors persist in enduring the most challenging start to any DStv Premiership season, and the current campaign proves to be a bitter pill for a team steeped in South African football history.

The sole glimmer of success this season materialised in a 2-1 triumph over Orlando Pirates earlier this month. However, it's noteworthy that this victory occurred under the interim leadership of technical director Sean Connor, who stepped in during the quest to secure a replacement for the dismissed Shaun Bartlett.

Now guided by Ernst Middendorp, who assumed the mantle to revive Spurs, the German mentor experienced a setback in his inaugural game at the helm as the team suffered a 2-1 defeat against Royal AM over the weekend.

Regrettably, this initial setback now adds to the tally of challenges facing the team.

The recent loss has left the struggling Spurs rooted at the bottom of the table, trailing the 15th-placed Richards by a margin of seven points. Furthermore, they find themselves 11 points adrift of both Royal AM in 14th place and Sekhukhune United in 13th place in the league standings.

Compounding their woes, Spurs find themselves in a precarious position on the scoreboard, managing only 10 goals across 13 matches, while conceding a staggering 27 at an average rate of 2.08 goals per match. The stark reality of this statistical imbalance began to unfold as early as the seven-minute mark for Middendorp's side.

A forceful clearance via a deep out-of-the-hand kick by goalkeeper Sam Ramsbottom quickly transformed into a disadvantage for Spurs. The English